djmiller-83778

Soong: Am I dreaming, or is this a nightmare?

B. Jurati: Ultimately, that's up to you.

Imagine getting all the actors from your favorite Trek TNG episodes together again after nearly 30 years. Imagine that none of them have lost their connection with their characters. Imagine combining them with fantastic younger actors who fit right into the Trek family. Imagine a network spending money enough to make it look and sound great. Imagine excellent sets, lighting, camerawork, editing, directing, etc. Imagine several hat tips to Trek shows of the past, and easter eggs in every episode. You're excited, right? It's like a dream come true!

Now imagine that the show runners hire a couple of women who used to write Hallmark Channel movies to write this new Trek series.

It's a nightmare. Definitely a nightmare. That nightmare is Star Trek: Picard, season two.

I loved the pacing and the cinematography. Sci-Fi doesn't have to have hundreds of 1.3 second clips all strung together with a constantly increasing pace and a heart-stopping denouement. This series is relaxed and beautiful, like life when it is good. It reminds me a little of the old video game MYST.

The first episode was intriguing for the questions it asked. This is as it should be for good Sci-Fi. It doesn't have to answer everything, it just has to ask some good questions. There's a good measure of heartbreak in each of the first three episodes, but they are balanced by uniqueness of the story, the music and the quality acting.

The fourth episode was just heartbreaking without much of a purpose. The fifth episode was silly and pointless. The sixth episode was just plain terrible. I'm tapping out. I gave it a good try, but I'm done. So much potential, so little story.

I wish I had skipped it. The first three episodes were very enjoyable and they've been getting worse and worse since. This episode is the bottom of the barrel. I think the writer and producer forgot that this series is a Sci-Fi Drama, not a Romantic Tragedy. The story was not unique or even interesting and you could see the "surprise ending" coming a mile away. There is so much potential in this series, and in this episode in particular, but the opportunity was wasted. As Kipling remarked, this episode was nothing more than the "proper prostrations to the gods of the marketplace." Very disappointing.